1853: Henry Turner Hanged at Melbourne Gaol for Robbery and Murder
At Melbourne Gaol on 23 August 1853, Henry Turner and his accomplice John Smith were hanged for the murder of John Warren at Fryer’s Creek. The two men had entered Warren’s hut demanding gold, and when he could not produce it, they shot him in the eye with a revolver at close range. Warren was found blind and bleeding in the bush, groping through the scrub; he died shortly after from a bone splinter that had penetrated his brain.
Turner was attended in his final days by the Reverend Mr Studdert of St. James’ Church, while Smith received the Catholic priests Fathers Shiel, Cunningham, and Hayes. Both men were executed before a considerable crowd, and neither had entertained any hope of reprieve.
Turner acknowledged the justice of his sentence before his death, as did Smith, who was brought to admit that the punishment he was about to suffer was just and merited.
